_{ORIGINALGRILLA.}

_{she doesn’t relent,   and he can’t blame her    —    but he still moves to pull that office door firmly shut,   mindful of anyone who might have been drawn to the commotion.    he has to  wait  to get a word in,   sharp,   not as loud as it could be.      ‘     he ain’t  walkin’  anywhere.    he’s fuckin’  dead.    alright ?    skinner’s dead.     ’}

_{she isn’t  finished  with him yet.    even tries sidestepping to cut him off before he can close the door,  prattling on about joe mills and the pied piper until the last second.    (    until he drops that bomb,  and she’s suddenly feeling like there’s a slew of things he hasn’t told her.    )    she pauses.    lets the weight of it sink in.     ❛     …  bullshit.     ❜}

_{ORIGINALGRILLA.}

_{‘     hey    —    keep your voice down.     ’       he already knows  exactly  where this is going.       ‘     shut the door.    what’d you hear about mills ?     ’}

_{❛     screw you !    don’t tell me what to do !     ❜     spat out in that same caustic tone,  gaze pinned.    she’s beyond reasoning.    furious with him,  with the entire department for covering this up.     ❛     joe mills is a piece of shit,  but he ain’t the pied piper !    i saw him,  holder,  with my own two eyes !    he slit my fucking  throat,  killed kallie,  killed all of those  girls  and you’re just gonna let him fuckin’ walk ?     ❜}

_{❛     yo,  listen    ––––    i didn’t touch  nothin’  up in this bitch.    everything’s all …  organised chaos,  just the way you  left  it.     ❜     more worried about audrey being pissed at her for being in her room unattended than anything else.    the bandage on her  throat,  for example,  that could’ve used changing.    or the cigarette she was holding and about to light.    at least she had the courtesy to crack open the window first.}     //  @bloodlettered

_❛     JOE MILLS ?     _{joe fuckin’ mills ?     ❜     she didn’t knock.    didn’t think to lower her voice,  didn’t care who else might have overheard.}     //  @originalgrilla

_{ORIGINALGRILLA.}

_{‘     you just gotta think about it like    —    it’s  brain versus brawn,   right ?    homeboy’s got the eight ton bite force but they  still  got his punk ass outnumbered,   and  they got the smarts.     ’}

_{❛     small,  but savage.     ❜     bullet can relate.    been in a lot of fights,  kicked a lot of ass.    even had her own handed to her once or twice or maybe three times,  depending on perspective.     ❛     just goes t’ show,  it don’t matter how hard you sock it to ‘em if you ain’t  smart  about it.     ❜}

_{ORIGINALGRILLA.}

_{‘     yo,   if i got  that  kinda stuck,   i’d be out of a  job.    even the most prolific pieces of murderin’ shit make mistakes,   you feel me ?     ’       like skinner did,   when he gave his daughter a ring that was last seen on the finger of a dead girl.       ‘     —    shooter thought he was doin’ the larsens a solid by settin’ things right.    some fucked up type of  vigilante justice  or whatever.    everybody  thought richmond was good for it.     ’}

_{the fabricated surveillance photo still stirs up a residual bitterness,   like sediment at the bottom of a lake,   but that whole debacle is another story for another time.    seattle’s glorified  integrity candidate  might have turned out to be a world class sack of dicks ;   that doesn’t mean he deserved what happened to him.}

_{‘     you ever  SEEN  linden lose her temper ?    like,   for real ?    got the crazy eyes,   veins poppin’    —    ain’t a good look for her.     ’       he’s pokerfaced until he’s not.}

_{he does remember confronting the kid,   though :   the one who only got off scot - free for that little home movie because sterling never cried  rape  after the fact.}

_{meal prep more than half - finished,   he brings her drink over as an afterthought    —    holds it out of reach when she makes a grab for it,   pausing for effect before setting it down on the coffee table.    she looks better.    not a hundred percent,   but better than she did a week ago.}

_{‘     watch y’self.    what i  should  be doin’ is whippin’ you up one of them  protein shakes.    a li’l kiss of hemp milk,   some ground - up flaxseed,   handful of baby spinach.    breakfast of champions.     ’}

_{❛     bullshit.    peeps get stuck all the time.    just gotta work around it,  you feel me ?    ‘cause life    ––––    it’s like one big  labyrinth.    if y’ hit a dead end goin’  one direction,  turn around and go another.    kinda what this police work’s all  about,  ain’t it ?    di - rection.     ❜     she knows enough to have an informed opinion,  somewhat.    not about policing and investigations,  but about  life.    as most kids her age like to think.     ❛     the hell’s wrong with vigilante justice ?    if the  pigs  ain’t doin’ nothin’  …     ❜}

_{she too thought richmond was good for it.    even suspected the bottle - blonde for a while.    but after time,  she forgot about  the dead girl,  just like the rest of the world,  until a public broadcast was aired and cold hard cash was promised for new information.    then,  everyone knew rosie larsen.}

_{❛     nah,   homegirl always kept her cool around me.    think she’s got a  good  look,  huh ?    play on,  playa.     ❜}

_{bullet sinks back into the cushions,  left foot kicked up on the coffee table,  right leg still hooked over the armrest and knocking against the side of the couch with the heel of her boot.    (    she can’t count the number of times a teacher or authoritative figure demanded she sat like a lady back in boarding school.    )}     

_{she reaches out for the glass,  only to abruptly sit up with a clenched fist when he holds it out of reach.    might have socked him in the gut or somewhere a lot more unpleasant if he hadn’t surrendered the  sunny - d  in time.}

_{❛     that’s disgusting,  yo !    save that shit for your nasty old health nut girlfriend.    where  is  she,  anyway ?     ❜}

_{ORIGINALGRILLA.}

_{‘     alright    —    chill,   li’l man.    nobody’s hatin’ on  dr.   role model.    you wanna be a vet,   be a vet.    i got faith.     ’       it’s a lot of schooling,   but she’s fifteen.    she has her whole life ahead of her.       ‘     raptors ain’t even  jurassic.    they went full - on cretaceous up in that bitch,   already rockin’ a  pack mentality.    used t’ stake out ponds and rivers ‘n shit,   ambush their prey.    get like 20 of ‘em riled up at once and they’d take down some  major  players.     ’}

_{faith.    that earns a smile.    it’s small,  but it’s there.    you can see it in her eyes.     ❛     –––––     no shit ?    how big are we talkin’ ?    like,  t - rex  big ?    ‘cause that is  a lot of food  for only twenty turkeys.     ❜}

_{“ *steam comes out of ass* ” - @originalgrilla}

_{ORIGINALGRILLA.}

_{‘     whatever,   dr.   dee :  alaska vet.    i  see  you fillin’ up the dvr with that shit.     ’       that,   and  my cat from hell.       ‘     it’s all live ‘n let live ‘til they ain’t been chowin’ down enough.    smell blood in the water    —   boom !    feedin’ frenzy.    and they get all batshit crazy protective of those eggs,   man.    like,   uh    —    velociraptors,   you know,   they keep their shit tight.    look out for their own.     ’}

_{❛     yo,  don’t be a hater !    dr. dee is awesome !    she was alive ‘n kickin’ back in the  sixties.    ‘n she had this older brother who wanted t’ be a vet,  but he was killed in ‘nam so homegirl went on t’ live out his fantasy life ‘n became one of the  best freakin’ vets  in alaska.    i’m gonna be like that one day.     ❜     helping those that can’t always help themselves.     always soft around animals.     ❛     raptors are pretty bomb.    jurassic park  had ‘em screwed up,  which sucks ‘cause they’re supposed t’ be all smart’ n shiz,  but they’re just glorified  turkeys.     ❜}